Archive for January, 2013

I had a bit of time to spare on the second day of our Whirlwind Taiwan Trip so when I chanced upon the agnès b cafe, I took the opportunity to have a cuppa there. This is directly outside the Zhong Shan MRT station so it won’t be missed. It was the most blustery yet, and I happened to just be wearing a short-sleeve Tshirt and a sweater because I wanted to be a hero. Still, despite that, I went ahead to have my cuppa at this al-fresco cafe. They have heaters, which you can’t see too clearly in the photo, but I had to have a table slightly away from the line of heat because the tables directly under the heaters were all occupied!

You know what, I’ve been writing so much about food, I thought that it would only be responsible of me to give some air-time to exercise and healthy living. Calling all sporting enthusiasts out there, now’s your chance to take part in some competitive sports! Don’t worry, it’s all in the name of having fun, bonding with your neighbours and keeping fit at the same time!

So what is this Community Games all about?

The upcoming Community Games 2013 (CG 2013) is a multi-sports competition held across the island, bringing the Games to the heart of the community and connecting residents of different ages, races and living across estates.

Like this:

On the 2nd day of our sponsored whirlwind trip to Taiwan, we were brought to a modern establishment that specialises in Zha Jiang Mian 炸醬麵 / 炸酱面. For some reason, I was expecting a sort of traditional noodle house as I was informed that Shuang Ren Hsu specialises in traditional tasting 炸酱面, Imagine my surprise when we stepped into a small restaurant that looked the exact opposite of traditional. It even had a huge wall mounted projector screen showing some video.

I think this photo above epitomises how avant-garde Shuang Ren Hsu is! Who would have thought of pairing 炸酱面 with red wine?? Why not? In fact, that is the question posed by the owner of Shuang Ren Hsu who joined us for lunch. This is definitely not your 15 minute 炸酱面 stall. The average customer spends more than an hour dining here, replicating the “French” dining experience by pairing the dishes with various wines, luxuriating over the meal as well as conversation. I love this wine pairing concept with Chinese food, and the idea of savouring the meal through several courses!

The average Chinese person eats faster, way faster than the average Westerner. This is partly due to the fact that you have to eat quickly in communal dining or you might just end up with the scraps. I’ve never really appreciated this and I like to buck the trend by taking my time to savour every morsel. I loath it when people tell me I eat slowly. If I’m in a good mood, I tell them that the French take 3 hours to ENJOY dinner. That instantly puts things in a different perspective doesn’t it? If I’m in a bad mood, I ask them why are we eating so fast like dogs?

My first day in Taipei was a pretty gloomy one, not because the people were unfriendly, but because the sky was overcast. Thankfully, we got blessed with sunny skies and really good weather the next few days, as compared to the dreary rain we’d heard about the week before.

From Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport to my hotel in Ximending took just over an hour’s ride in a taxi. Amba Hotel is located right smack in the middle of Ximending, about a 5 minute brisk walk to the Ximen MRT Station. It was really good to have this hotel on our first night because you don’t have to fret over maps or farecards. You just pop downstairs and all the shops, eateries and food pushcarts of Ximending are at your service! Another good reason to choose a hotel in a bustling area is so that you can easily pop back to the hotel to offload your heavy loot before continuing with round 2, or 3 for that matter.

This was the room that I got at Amba Hotel. Huge ass king size bed to roll around in!!

Managed to snag an invite to the Epicurean Market food fair. If you’ve always wanted to try all the Celebrity Restaurants but didn’t want to rob a bank, you might like to come down to the Epicurean Market, where you can sample the various restaurants like Cut, Waku Ghin, DB Moderne etc. The portions are bite sized so the prices are lowered accordingly. It isn’t cheap to dine here, but you are paying to get variety.

For the price of $59, you get $30 worth of vouchers to spend at the Epicurean Market, in addition to being able to attend all the Master Classes. For more information on ticketing or the masterclass and workshop schedule, visit the Epicurean Market Marina Bay Sands website.

Here are some pictures I took today! Spent FIVE hours there!!

Who’s the handsomest chef of them all? Is it just me and Mario Batalli, or do you also wanna hang some sausages around your neck?

I’d heard that the Epicurean Market was a dead town on Friday, but as you can see, the picture proves that it’s pretty lively, although definitely not jammed packed like the IT Show!